Sweet Thursday (12 page)

Justin stood up to answer the door, reaching for his wallet on the coffee table as he went. “About damn time,” he said as he opened the front door.

“Blame Chad. He insists on driving his piece of shit car. The thing died halfway here and it took me twenty minutes to get it started again.”

Killian rose quickly, cursing under his breath. He’d completely forgotten they’d invited Sean and Chad to watch the game. The events of the weekend wiped every thought that didn’t contain Lily from his mind.

He saw Justin give him a panicked look as well when Lily’s brother carried in a twelve pack of beer and settled in on the couch. “What’s with the shorts? It’s not that hot in here.”

“Gotta admit I’m glad the food is here. You guys sure do know how to help me work up an appetite,” Lily called from the kitchen.

Chad’s gaze narrowed as he turned his head at the sound of Lily’s voice. He’d just risen from the couch when Lily came out of the kitchen. “Here are the plates.” She froze when she spotted her brother and Sean in the room.

“Lily?” Chad asked as he took in her half-dressed appearance. “What the
fuck
is going on here?”

“What are you doing here?” Lily’s face was flushed and Killian crossed the room, not looking forward to what was certain to turn into an ugly scene.

“I think I’d rather know what
you’re
doing here.” Chad gestured angrily to Killian’s and Justin’s lack of clothing. “Where are your clothes?”

“Listen, Chad,” Killian started, placing himself between brother and sister. “We can explain.”

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Chad shook his head. “You assholes! You both fucked her, didn’t you? What kind of sick bastards are you?”

Sean stepped closer to Chad. “Hey man. Now wait a second. This is K and Justin you’re talking to. They’d never take advantage of Lily. You know that.” Sean looked toward him, his eyes questioning, almost pleading, and Killian felt as if he’d taken a bullet to the chest.

Lily walked around Killian, moving closer to Chad. “Wait. You don’t know the whole story. You don’t understand—”

“I understand perfectly! They took advantage of you.”

Lily laughed, the sound full of misery, and Killian wished he could turn back time.

Find a way to remove Lily from his painful situation. “I’m nearly thirty, Chad. I passed the point where anyone could take advantage of me long ago. I came here knowing and
wanting
what happened.”

Chad’s anger turned toward his sister and Justin took a protective step closer to her.

Killian knew the situation was in danger of turning nasty if he didn’t intervene.

“Chad. We’re all consenting adults. I’m sorry you had to find out this way, but—”

“Get dressed, Lily.” Chad pointed toward the front door. “We’re leaving. You’re coming with me.”

Lily shook her head. “No, I’m not leaving.” She paused, took a deep breath while dashing away a tear. Killian gritted his teeth, fighting the impulse to hold her. Touching her now, when Chad was so angry, so volatile, would only make things worse.

“Chad…” Sean stepped forward. He started to touch Chad’s shoulder but apparently saw what Killian did. A ticking time bomb poised to explode. His hand hovered in the air above his friend’s arm. “I think you and I should get outta here.

Leave the three of them alone.”

Chad shook his head but Sean continued speaking, his tone calm, reasonable. “You need to calm down, man. Take a little time.”

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“Chad, please.” Lily’s voice was pleading and Killian wondered what she was asking for. Forgiveness, understanding, time? He swallowed against the lump in his throat. They’d been bastards to put her in this position. Assholes for indulging what clearly should have remained a fantasy.

“Fuck this.” Chad stepped away from Lily, following Sean to the front door. He turned before leaving, his angry gaze piercing all of them before landing on Lily.

“We’re not finished talking about this. I’ll be at your place later. One hour, Lil. You’ve got one hour to get out of here or I’m coming back to get you.”

He left. Sean gave Killian an apologetic smile. “I’ll talk to him.”

Killian nodded his thanks, his voice failing him as Sean took his leave as well. As the front door closed, Lily sank slowly to the couch. Killian expected her to fall apart, dissolve into tears, but as always she surprised him. She simply leaned back and sighed.

“Wow. That didn’t go well.”

Justin looked at him and Killian shrugged. Obviously his friend had expected hysterics as well.

“You okay, Lil?” Justin walked toward the couch slowly, almost cautiously, and Killian fought back a grin at his friend’s uncharacteristic reticence.

“No.” Her reply was simple and quick. “But I’m an adult and I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions, my own mistakes.”

Killian frowned. Did she think this weekend had been a mistake?

Justin sat down beside her. “Chad was way out of line.”

Lily grinned. “I’m his big sister, Justin. I think he’s perfectly within his right to be protective of me. That was actually sort of sweet. He was only eleven when I went off to college on the other side of the country. The sister who left him back then had been a goody-goody girl with no boyfriends. He sort of missed the part where I grew up, just like I missed it for him. We’re going to have to get to know each other again and I suppose that means discovering the good and bad parts.”

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Again with the bad. Killian clenched his fists against the anger building inside him.

She’d started the weekend as an experiment in being naughty, but Lily was as far from being a bad girl as Mary Poppins.

“Lily,” Killian said, walking over and joining her and Justin on the couch. “You don’t regret what we did here this weekend, do you?”

“Oh no,” she answered quickly. Killian took a deep breath of relief. “God, I don’t want you to think that. It’s just the reality was so much better than the fantasy that I forgot.”

“Forgot what?” Justin took her hand.

“Forgot that this weekend really
was
a fantasy. That it can never be a reality.”

With her words, Killian felt the door on their adventure close. There wouldn’t be any more chances to explore.

Lily had remained resolute in her assertion that this was a one-weekend deal and Chad’s untimely visit had just solidified it. One glance at his best friend proved Justin wasn’t going to accept her answer easily, and while Killian didn’t want the physical aspects of their newfound relationship to end, he could see the wisdom behind Lily’s decision to keep the physical experience brief.

After two days, he was already feeling her tugging on his heartstrings. The sweet girl who’d been his friend in school had grown into an even lovelier woman. If she stayed and allowed the ménage fantasy to continue, he’d merely fall deeper under her spell.

And then where would they all be? While he didn’t mind sharing a woman with his best friend on occasion, he certainly didn’t see how any good could come of expanding on the concept. People lived in pairs, not threesomes, as Chad’s reaction just proved.

While Sean had taken their unorthodox situation in stride, Killian couldn’t begin to know what the rest of his family might say. How could he explain to his old-fashioned pop that he and Justin were both having sex with Lily at the same time? He shook his head. That was one conversation he never wanted to have.

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Lily looked at the clock and sighed. “I guess I should head home. Try to find a way to explain this to my little brother.”

Justin scowled and Killian knew there was no way this conversation would end well. “Fuck Chad. It’s still early yet. He’s a big boy and you don’t owe him any explanations.”

“That’s not true and you know it.” Rather than comment further, Lily moved straight to evasive maneuvers. If Killian weren’t so worried about her, he’d have been amused. “Besides, I haven’t been home all weekend. There are still a few boxes I’d intended to unpack and there are some things I need to do before heading back to work tomorrow. Laundry, for one.”

Justin leaned forward. “You never told us what time your lunch break was.”

“I didn’t?” She swallowed heavily and Killian knew the next few minutes were bound to be painful…for all of them.

“No, you didn’t.” Justin stared at her, refusing to back down. “How about lunch tomorrow? We can grab hot dogs on the waterfront.”

Lily rose from the couch. “Um. Why don’t I call you guys later, let you know if that’s possible?”

She started for the stairs and Killian could see she was plotting a quick escape after putting her own clothes back on.

“Sit back down, Lily.” Justin rose quickly and blocked her path to the stairs, his arms crossed on his chest.

“I really need to get home.”

“I get that,” Justin said. “And I’m going to let you go. In a minute. Now sit down.”

She perched on the edge of the couch. “Well, make it quick,” she said, looking toward Killian for help.

Killian narrowed his eyes at her remark, shaking his head. She should know better than to poke a riled snake.

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“I can see we’re gonna have to clear the air on this,” Justin said.

Lily looked at Justin, confused by his comment. “Clear what air?”

“When you asked us for one night to live this fantasy of yours, did you really think we were gonna wave goodbye to you forever when dawn came? Jesus, Lil. We’re friends and we live in the same town. What the fuck’s going on inside that head of yours?”

“Justin.” Killian’s voice was rife with warning but Lily cut him off.

“No, K. It’s a valid question and my answer is I have no idea what I was thinking. I suppose I thought we’d have some fun and then go our separate ways again. That was stupid. I can see that in hindsight, but I guess now I’m worried about seeing you again.”

“Why? You think it will be weird, awkward?” Justin asked.

“I think it’ll be hard.” The words must have escaped her lips before she could think better of them and she closed her eyes, wincing at what she’d just revealed. “I mean—”

“No.” Justin sat beside her and covered her lips with his finger. “You just said what you meant. Why would it be hard?”

She shrugged, but Killian wasn’t willing to let her off so easy.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her back to his chest. “Why would it be hard, Lily?”

“It was just supposed to be one night.”

Justin leaned closer. “That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only answer I have.”

“So we take it from a different angle.” Justin picked up her legs, placing them over his lap while Killian leaned back against the arm of the couch, taking her upper body with him. His movement caused her T-shirt to rise and left her exposed from the waist down. “I don’t want this to end now. What about you, K?”

Lily twisted to face him and he swallowed heavily. He felt torn between what he wanted and what he knew was right. While Justin lived on emotion, Killian had always 95

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been firmly ensconced in the land of reality and practicality. Lily was residing on that side with him.

“I don’t want this to end either.” The words were ripped from his chest and he knew his tone had proven to Lily he understood the seriousness of what Justin was dangerously proposing.

“I see. So what exactly is it you’re asking for?” she asked. “I date both of you? Were you not just in this room with Chad? Didn’t you see his reaction? Doesn’t the idea of one woman dating two men seem a bit unacceptable to you?”

Justin looked at her and grinned. “Has any part of this weekend felt unacceptable?”

She sighed. “No, but—”

“But you can make up a million excuses for why this is supposedly wrong. Be honest, Lil. You promised you would. Do any of your flimsy excuses work when placed against the fact that all of this, the three of us together, fits? We’re right. Admit it.”

Lily licked her lips and Killian felt his mouth go dry in the face of Justin’s words.

He’d never seen his easygoing friend so passionate, so adamant about anything. He usually took the middle ground, never drifting into anything that could be considered a red zone. This was as red as it got. What the hell could he be thinking?

“Justin,” Killian said. “I think there’s a helluva lot more at stake than the three of us just hooking up for sex.”

Lily nodded. “We’ve only been together for one weekend.”

“All I want you to say is you won’t go into hiding when you leave here. If one of us calls, I want you to pick up the phone. If we ask you out to dinner, I don’t want you to start scrambling for those ‘I have to wash my hair tonight’ excuses. I wanna dump the time limit and let the cards fall where they may.”

Those words sounded more like the Justin he knew—and Killian also knew his friend wasn’t going to like what was coming next.

“I can’t do that,” Lily said.

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“Neither can I.” Killian ran a hand through his hair, trying to figure out how to explain to his impulsive friend what he wanted was impossible.

“Why not?” Justin asked.

Lily turned toward him and Killian fought to still his racing heart. She was clearly making an appeal to him for help. “When I made my proposition Friday night, it was a one-night deal. I agreed to the weekend, but I can’t do this anymore.”

Killian nodded. He understood her concerns. Clearly Justin didn’t.

“Why the hell not?” his friend asked.

“Justin, dammit. Just let it go.” Killian ran his hand through his hair again, frustration raging through his system. “I told you Friday night there would be consequences.”

Justin rose from the couch angrily. “Fuck that and fuck
you
. Both of you. This weekend has been one of the best of my life. Can either of you say that isn’t true for you too?”

Killian scowled and he watched Lily’s eyes drift downward.

“Justin, please try to understand.”

Killian knew his friend was fighting a losing battle. Lily had always been one of the most determined women he’d ever known. In that regard, she reminded him of his sisters. When she made her mind up to do something, she stuck to it. She knew trying to pursue a long-term relationship with two men was destined to fail and Chad’s reaction had just driven that fact home.